Fortenberry Creating A Springboard

Patrick Teale

08/14/2008

Missing pretty much all of Spring Training with a sore wrist, it took a while for Tampa outfielder Seth Fortenberry to find his groove in the first half as he hit just .230 before the All-Star break. Hitting .307 since that time, including a robust .432 in the month of August so far, he's hoping to use his hot finish as a springboard into next season.

"I guess it's had its ups and downs," Fortenberry said of his season so far. "It's been kind of a roller-coaster ride as far injuries. So far, knock on wood, it's going pretty well in the second half as far as staying away from injuries. I'm trying to get the ball rolling and finish as strong as I can."

Unable to find his timing after entering the season with just a handful of Spring at-bats, he wound up striking out an alarming 35 times in his first 24 games with the Tampa Yankees. Slowly cutting down his strikeout ratios in each passing month, he's actually drawn more walk than strikeouts in the season's last month so far.

"I actually feel really good at the plate right now," he said. "I've made some adjustments with Aaron [Ledesma, the hitting coach] in the cages and I've come a long way since the beginning of the season. It's feeling good. I just want to finish as strong as I can and make up for some of those [injury] mishaps in April."

A pronounced pull-hitter in his short career entering the season, one who had seen opposing defenses employ the "Giambi shift" on him defensively, the biggest adjustment the former Baylor product has made has been using the entire field more this year, an edict he made for himself over the offseason.

"It's gone a lot better," he said of going to the opposite field more. "As far as my approach, it forces you to use the whole field. I'm letting the ball travel and I'm seeing the ball deeper into the zone.

"With Aaron, we call letting it into your phone booth and hitting it out. It's gone better in that sense, letting the ball travel and hitting it that way."

Admitting this is the best he has felt offensively since signing with the Yankees back in 2006, the left-handed hitter just wants to stay the course with his new approach of using the entire field and he believes that will take him where he wants to go.

"I feel like I've come a long way," said Fortenberry. "We're refining things here and there. The one good thing about it is it doesn't make you susceptible on the offspeed stuff.

"You let the ball travel longer, you see it a lot longer, and you're able to handle the offspeed stuff better."

Considering his injury in Spring Training set his development back a tad, not allowing him to get his timing down or work on using the field more, his hope is to continue to use his hot finish this season as a springboard into next season.

"Definitely. If I can finish strong - I'd love to finish up around .290, which would be great - then I can boost it into Spring Training next year and keep it going from there," he concluded.

Are you a monthly or 3-month subscriber to PinstripesPlus.com? Why not get two months free AND get 4 issues of our PinstripesPlus Magazine included by becoming an annual subscriber? Upgrade today to get the most out of your subscription.

\r\n \r\n\r\n\"I guess it's had its ups and downs,\" Fortenberry said of his season so far. \"It's been kind of a roller-coaster ride as far injuries. So far, knock on wood, it's going pretty well in the second half as far as staying away from injuries. I'm trying to get the ball rolling and finish as strong as I can.\"\r\n\r\nUnable to find his timing after entering the season with just a handful of Spring at-bats, he wound up striking out an alarming 35 times in his first 24 games with the Tampa Yankees. Slowly cutting down his strikeout ratios in each passing month, he's actually drawn more walk than strikeouts in the season's last month so far.\r\n\r\n\"I actually feel really good at the plate right now,\" he said. \"I've made some adjustments with Aaron [Ledesma, the hitting coach] in the cages and I've come a long way since the beginning of the season. It's feeling good. I just want to finish as strong as I can and make up for some of those [injury] mishaps in April.\"\r\n\r\nA pronounced pull-hitter in his short career entering the season, one who had seen opposing defenses employ the \"Giambi shift\" on him defensively, the biggest adjustment the former Baylor product has made has been using the entire field more this year, an edict he made for himself over the offseason.\r\n\r\n\"It's gone a lot better,\" he said of going to the opposite field more. \"As far as my approach, it forces you to use the whole field. I'm letting the ball travel and I'm seeing the ball deeper into the zone.\r\n\r\n\"With Aaron, we call letting it into your phone booth and hitting it out. It's gone better in that sense, letting the ball travel and hitting it that way.\"\r\n\r\nAdmitting this is the best he has felt offensively since signing with the Yankees back in 2006, the left-handed hitter just wants to stay the course with his new approach of using the entire field and he believes that will take him where he wants to go.\r\n\r\n\"I feel like I've come a long way,\" said Fortenberry. \"We're refining things here and there. The one good thing about it is it doesn't make you susceptible on the offspeed stuff.\r\n\r\n\"You let the ball travel longer, you see it a lot longer, and you're able to handle the offspeed stuff better.\"\r\n\r\nConsidering his injury in Spring Training set his development back a tad, not allowing him to get his timing down or work on using the field more, his hope is to continue to use his hot finish this season as a springboard into next season.\r\n\r\n\"Definitely. If I can finish strong - I'd love to finish up around .290, which would be great - then I can boost it into Spring Training next year and keep it going from there,\" he concluded.\r\n\r\n

\r\n

\r\n

\r\n

Are you a monthly or 3-month subscriber to PinstripesPlus.com? Why not get two months free AND get 4 issues of our PinstripesPlus Magazine included by becoming an annual subscriber? Upgrade today to get the most out of your subscription.